Introspective
by bookworm26
Summary: Times and events collide, bringing them together. HouseBones crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- Don't own House or Bones.

Note: I'll try and update this as frequently as I can, but this is kind of an experiment. And I have my crazy last year of high school. Thanks for reading D Feedback would be awesome. I am also a House/Cameron, Brennan/Booth shipper, so those ships will make themselves obvious.

Chapter 1

_16th December._

Gregory House hated conferences.

The icy December breeze hit him hard as he stepped out of the glass doors at Berlin Airport, faced with the annoyingly predictable task of hailing a cab.

Snow fell lightly around him, and he groaned, his eyes glassing over the some 50 cabs that were lined up along the street outside the airport. _This_ was just one of the hundreds of reasons he hated going to conferences. Granted, he rarely attended them, opting for drinking at the open bar and not turning up to the organized lectures at all. They bored him. Conferences in general bored him. They were a remarkably pointless event, in his opinion. A paid for excuse for pretentious old doctors to gather and harp on about their achievements, or attempt to get laid.

The latter was the only vague reason House ever went to conferences.

Cocking his head to the side, House's fixed his eyes on his three underlings behind him, each of them carrying distinct trademarks of being severely jet lagged. Foreman's tie was askew, Chase's hair carried a little less liveliness than it usually did, and Cameron had dark grey clouds under her eyes.

Each of their facial expressions voiced exactly what he was thinking.

"Great," House muttered, shoving his bag on the floor and blocking the already tiny walk way. Passers by glared at him, muttering curses under their breath as they squeezed past in a vain attempt to hail a cab.

Cameron stepped up next to him and rolled her eyes, leaning down and picking up his duffel bag, before shoving it into his chest and glaring at him. "Let's avoid causing a scene before we're even at the conference."

House rolled his eyes. "You're perky when you've had no sleep," he replied sarcastically, looking over the heads of people to see if there was any visible way to get out of there. Tossing his bag over his shoulder, he looked behind him and smirked Cameron, Chase and Foreman behind him.

"If you want to get out of here, follow me," he said, before leaning on his cane and limping through the crowd. He put an exaggerated pained expression on his face as he limped slowly through the crowd, and people moved away quickly to allow him better access.

Cameron rolled her eyes and looked at Chase before following him. She knew this was going to make for an interesting week.

Xxx

"I put on my 'desperate cripple' face, and it still took us 2 hours to get here," House said scathingly, as he stood on the pavement outside the Estrel. Foreman and Chase got out of the cab and Cameron picked up her bag off the pavement next to House.

It was barely 10am, yet the clouds that filled the sky gave the impression that it was late afternoon. Snow still fell lightly, and he brushed the white flakes off his jacket, staring up at the massive complex before him. The Estrel, Berlin was easily the biggest conference centre he had ever been to. It's large exterior spread over the walkway, its some 6 stories reaching up into the cloudy snow-ridden sky.

The only thing that crossed his mind was the fact that it would probably be a bitch to get up to their rooms.

House had no intention whatsoever to think positive about this conference. Even if he spent the entire trip complaining and bitching about the conference, or the lectures, or the state of the food, he knew that if anything he would at least piss Cameron off.

He smirked at the thought, before limping towards the entrance of the centre, leaving Cameron, Chase and Foreman to take care of the cab bill.

They caught up, entering the large complex with him. It was decorated particularly festively. Red and green decorations hung from the walls, silver tinsel sparkling from every corner of the large entrance hall. House cocked his head and saw an enormous tree in the corner of the room, surrounded by what he assumed to be cardboard boxes made to look like presents.

He'd double check that later.

The room was rather full; people in business suits surrounded them. Some of them carried the distinct signs of being on a plane, quite alike them, so House at least knew that he was in the right place.

Unfortunately.

He walked up to the service desk, leaning on the marble counter as he stared down at the pretty receptionist. He smiled forcefully at her, redirecting his eyes to Cameron, who had just stepped up next to him.

"I assume Cuddy gave _you_ all the details on the hotel?" He said bitterly, though he knew that if Cuddy had given him everything, he would have ignored it.

"You'd assume right," Cameron replied, before looking at the receptionist and handing her the booklet that she had just pulled out of her bag. "Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital," she stated, folding her hands over the marble at staring at the woman in front of her.

House rolled his eyes as Cameron handed the woman ID, and she gave Cameron room keys, along with a booklet of the conference itinerary. Cameron thanked the woman and turned around, earning a glare from House as he eyed the 4 keys in her hand.

"Where are we?" Foreman stepped up between the people crowding around the desk and looked at Cameron.

Cameron looked at the key numbers and handed one to him. "Level 5, Room 6," she said, flicking through the other numbers and handing one to Chase and then to House. "We're all next to each other."

"Goody," House grumbled, tossing his duffle bag over his shoulder and reaching into his pocket for a Vicodin. He tipped the lid and tossed one into his mouth. Cameron rolled her eyes and began to follow Foreman out of the hall when someone bumped into her, spilling the contents of the folder she was carrying over the floor.

Cameron sighed, leaning down and picking up all the papers that were scattered over the floor.

"Allison Cameron."

She looked up, staring at the offender that had bumped into her. House, standing behind her, noticed a shocked expression cross her features as she stood up, folder in hand.

"Nathan…" she said, staring at him with an unrecognizable expression on her face.

House stared at the man in front of him. His ears perked up slightly as he stepped closer to Cameron. This was interesting. Nathan wore a black suit, looking way too relaxed for someone who had just spent 16 hours on a plane. He was tall with dark brown hair and shining brown eyes.

"It's good to see you," Nathan spoke to Cameron, a smile appearing on his face.

Cameron smiled slightly. "Yeah, it's good to see you too. You here for the conference?"

Nathan nodded. "One and only. You here alone?"

House stepped up next to Cameron, his duffle bag swinging next to his side and bumping her hip. "Why I don't believe we have met. Cameron, I expected better of you…" House sarcastically reprimanded Cameron and she rolled her eyes.

"Nathan Evans, Gregory House. Gregory House, Nathan Evans," Cameron spoke rather deadpan, her hand gesturing between the two men.

"Gregory House. I think I've heard of you. Diagnostician at Princeton, right?" Nathan held out his hand, a gesture that House didn't return.

"Wow, I'm famous. Sorry to say I haven't heard of you," House replied, nodding at Nathan.

Nathan laughed. "Well, I'm not a word famous practitioner. Yet," He smiled, before looking behind him at a man who was standing a little way from him. "I better go. Check in and all. I'll see you tonight at the opening?"

Cameron nodded, smiling slightly. Nathan smiled at her, before walking away towards the man and the service desk. Cameron let out a breath and leant down to pick up her bag, before walking towards the elevator.

House smirked. He wasn't going to let her go.

"Who was that?" House asked in the elevator, surrounded by about 5 business men, doctors, in the small confined space.

Cameron smirked, keeping her eyes in front of her as House stared at her. She just shook her head as the door dinged on level five and sprung open. She slid through the people in the elevator, emitting small 'excuse me's' as she slipped through. House pushed past them, limping down the hallway after Cameron.

"Come on, you obviously know him from somewhere. It's unfair to keep things to yourself," House stated childishly as Cameron smirked and slid her key into her door. She turned around to face him.

"I'll see you tonight," she smiled, before shutting the door and leaving House in the empty hall.

This would certainly be interesting.

Xxx

House sat at the bar in the corner of the massive conference hall and glared at the people he was surrounded with. He leant over and downed the last of his scotch, letting the cool amber liquid slide down his throat as he stared out at the hall. Foreman stood a little to his right, about 2 meters away, talking to a group of elder men who seemed impressed with what he was saying. House smirked; the option of walking over there and stating that it was less than 8 months ago that the man had had a brain biopsy still very much in the front of his mind. Chase stood near the bar, facing a pretty young doctor to whom he seemed to be talking to. Or chatting up more likely. House was tossing up the option of what to embarrass him with when Cameron walked up to him and sat down at the bar next to him.

"Martini, please," she said to the bartender, before redirecting her gaze to House. "Having fun?"

"Oh yes, it's been the time of my life," House replied, rolling his eyes and picking up the new glass of scotch the bartender had placed in front of him.

Cameron smirked, looking out over the hall. House looked over at her. She looked particularly nice tonight. Her black dress skimmed her knees, the short sleeves and dipped neckline was something he was particularly fond of. He rolled his eyes, and looked away, taking another large swig of his drink.

"Great," Cameron's voice was quiet and House looked up in time to see Nathan Evans walk over to them.

"Evening," Nathan said simply, smiling at Cameron as House saw her force a smile on him. He smirked, not quite knowing who or what this guy was up to, but at least knew that Cameron wasn't comfortable around him.

"Are you here for the full 8 days?" Nathan asked, looking from House to Cameron. She looked at House.

He shrugged. "Depends if we get kicked out early or not," He replied, taking another drink. Cameron smirked and looked back at Nathan.

"Yes, we are," she said, smiling. House rolled his eyes. He had never known someone quite like her. Someone who, even if she didn't like the person, could be the utmost epitome of civil. It confused him more than anything.

Nathan shifted and looked over his head. The same man as this morning was standing a few meters away from him. He smiled at Cameron. "I'll see you during the week. Dr House," he acknowledged House before walking across the hall and out of the room.

House stared at Cameron. "You wanna tell me who he is now?"

Cameron stared at him and shook her head. House rolled his eyes and took another drink. This was becoming annoying. Not knowing, anomalies annoyed him. And she, this, was becoming one.

Cameron moved her hand over to her drink when a large explosion erupted through the hall, coming from outside. She gasped, jumping slightly as House's head snapped to outside. He could vaguely see smoke coming from outside. The entire room shifted, people panicking as they tried to figure out where the noise had come from. Cameron stood up, looking at House.

"What the hell was that?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"You're going where?" Angela Montenegro poked her head into Temperance Brennan's office with her hands on her hips and a particularly stunned expression on her face.

Brennan rolled her eyes and continued to shove objects on her desk into a bag that was opened on her chair. "Berlin. A doctor from Chicago got blown up outside the International Diagnostics Conference and Booth got assigned to the case. The guy was decimated. Hence why they need me."

Angela stepped deeper into her office. "And you seem bitter because…?"

Brennan looked up. "I have got a lot of work to do. And we'll get over there, and I'll figure out who the guy is within a couple of hours and then I'll be stuck in Germany til Christmas Eve while Booth solves the case," she replied, grabbing a large file off her desk and putting it into her bag.

Angela smiled. "Only you would be upset about going to Berlin at Christmas."

Brennan zipped up her bag and placed it on top of her desk. In actual fact, going to Berlin didn't bother her as much as she had let on. The thing that was bugging her most was that she was going to be spending Christmas, or the lead up to Christmas in a foreign country with the only person she knew being Detective Seely Booth.

She would much rather spend it in her office at the Jeffersonian Medico lab forking through the boxes of unidentified bones that lay in the room next to hers. It was her safe haven; the place she knew she could always go to, especially at Christmas. Since her parent's disappearance when she was 15, she had spent Christmas by herself.

She wasn't sure if she found the notion of that safe or familiar.

Booth stepped into her office, his customary black sunglasses in his hand and a large bag in the other. He had a particularly annoying smirk on his face which annoyed Brennan.

"You ready to go?" He asked her, nodding at Angela as a smile creeped onto his face.

Angela looked at her and grinned.

Brennan kept the roll of her eyes to herself and picked up her bag. Taking one look at Booth's gleeful expression, she smirked and nodded, squeezing Angela's arm as she walked past her and Booth, out the door.

"Have fun…" Angela's voice called out to her warily. Brennan waved her hand at her, hearing Booth walk up behind her.

She couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

X

"So what's the deal? You've spent the entire flight banging in my ear about Berlin, but have failed to mention the case," Brennan stepped out of the cab outside the Estrel conference centre and placed her bag on the cement.

"I didn't want you to overreact," Booth replied simply, putting his sunglasses on and sticking a note at the driver.

Brennan glared at him. "Overreact about what?"

"There have been talks … about who the guy is. Who got blown up. There were a few eye witness accounts, several people got injuries. It is a pretty serious thing, Bones," Booth said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and nodding his head in the direction of the building.

"So why am I here?" Brennan barely managed to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she stared at him, before walking towards the Estrel. The front of the building showed the distinct sign of being burnt. A large hole was burnt out of the side, obviously from the explosion. Police tapes and officers were positioned at the 'entrance'.

"Because, Bones, we need to make sure that the guy they think was blown up was the actual guy who was blown up. We've done stuff like this before. Besides, I thought you liked doing all this detective stuff," He nudged her in the ribs with his elbow and she smiled softly.

"Ok. So who's the guy they think it is?" Brennan asked, as Booth led the way into the centre, showing his badge to the security guard. He nodded, opening up the tape to let Booth and Brennan in.

"Nathan Evans. 32. A practicing diagnostician at Chicago general. He seemed to be alone at the conference, although," Booth looked at the clipboard he pulled out of his bag, "was seen to be talking to a male and a female before he left the building and the explosion erupted."

She ignored Booth's predictable 'Ugh' when she walked up and slid into to the blue tarpaulin which was obviously in place to keep people from seeing the rather gruesome remains. She bent down, eying the arm and leg which was burnt down to the bone in front of her. Brennan held out her hand and Booth gave her the bag which contained all the objects she needed. Pulling on the latex gloves she picked up the decimated remains of the man and eyed them.

"Definitely male from the size of the bone, I'd say in late 20's to early 30's …" Brennan picked up a plastic bag and dropped the arm into the bag.

"What are you going to do with that?" Booth asked her, eying the arm.

Brennan didn't reply, but grabbed her camera out of her bag and flipped the lens switch. She took several photographs of both the bones and the area to which they were lying.

"I'll beam the photographs to Zack and let him work on that while I …" she looked around at him. "Does there happen to be an anthropology lab around here somewhere?"

X

House sat in the corner of the restaurant, picking at his sandwich in front of him. It was barely 12pm, and the room was rather busy for a conference. Today's lectures had been postponed til tomorrow morning, not that House cared at all. He cocked his head to the side and peered out into the lobby. There was a new bunch of police officials gathered around the lobby, and around the fluorescent tarpaulin which contained the … bits of … he had an inkling of who it was. There had been whispers. Talk. And he wasn't sure exactly how he was supposed to feel about it.

Cameron, on the other hand, had been particularly quiet since last night. After the initial explosion, the room went into chaos when people realised what had happened. When everything had calmed down slightly, she had left abruptly.

He wasn't sure why he was so … he wasn't worried.

He took a large bite of his sandwich when Cameron came up, and sidled into the seat opposite him. He placed his sandwich down and stared at her. She looked like crap. A mix of jet lag and the fact that she looked like she hadn't slept all night. She was dressed in a simple pair of black pants with a red jumper. Her hair was tied up in a bun loosely, stray curls framing her face. She looked up at him.

"What's up?" House asked, almost awkwardly. He hated her complexity.

She smiled softly. "What's up? What's up. Only you would ask me what's up after what happened last night."

"Well what else am I supposed to say?" House asked, annoyance etched in his voice.

Cameron didn't reply, but looked down at the table, fingering the tablecloth absentmindedly. He knew she was beating herself up over this. Even though he had no clue, which was killing him, who Nathan was, he could tell that he was someone important. Was someone important. He wanted to know who he was.

"Cameron … Who-"

"Don't," her voice was soft, yet he could hear the finality in her tone. He looked away, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair as he redirected his gaze to the table.

"Dr House?"

House and Cameron both looked up simultaneously to see a rather tall bulky man standing before them. He was wearing a black suit, with black sunglasses on his head. House stared at him and Cameron looked at House, a bemused expression on her face.

"I'm going to need to ask you a few questions," the man said simply, taking off his glasses and sliding them into his pocket.

House smirked. Somehow, he had known this was coming.

X


End file.
